In the biblical context, a corpse refers to the dead body of a human being. The treatment and perception of corpses in the Bible are deeply intertwined with religious, cultural, and ceremonial practices. The handling of a corpse is often associated with ritual purity and impurity, reflecting the broader theological themes of life, death, and resurrection.

Old Testament Context

In the Old Testament, the handling of a corpse is primarily discussed in the context of ritual purity laws. According to the Mosaic Law, contact with a dead body rendered a person ceremonially unclean. Numbers 19:11-13 states, "Whoever touches any dead body will be unclean for seven days. He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean. Anyone who touches a human corpse and fails to purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the LORD. That person must be cut off from Israel."

The Israelites were instructed to bury their dead promptly, as seen in Deuteronomy 21:22-23 : "If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree, you must not leave the body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance."

New Testament Context

In the New Testament, the focus shifts from ritual purity to the hope of resurrection. Jesus' interactions with the dead highlight His authority over life and death. In Luke 7:14-15 , Jesus raises the widow's son: "Then He went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. 'Young man,' He said, 'I tell you, get up!' And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him back to his mother."

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is central to the Christian faith, symbolizing victory over death and the promise of eternal life. In 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 , Paul writes, "So will it be with the resurrection of the dead: What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body."

Cultural and Theological Significance

The treatment of corpses in the Bible reflects a deep respect for the human body as the creation of God. The burial practices and mourning rituals underscore the sanctity of life and the hope of resurrection. The biblical narrative consistently points to the transient nature of earthly life and the eternal significance of the soul.

Theologically, the concept of a corpse serves as a reminder of the consequences of sin, which brought death into the world (Romans 5:12: "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned"). Yet, through Christ, believers are offered redemption and the promise of resurrection, transforming the understanding of death from a final end to a passage into eternal life.1. (n.) The dead body of a human being.CORPSE

korps: This word in the King James Version is the translations of two Hebrew words, pegher, and gewiyah, while nebhelah, and guphah, which mean the same, are translated "body," with which the English word "corpse" (Latin, corpus) was originally synonymical. Therefore we find the now apparently unnecessary addition of the adjective "dead" in 2 Kings 19:35 and Isaiah 37:36. The Greek equivalent is ptoma, literally, "a fallen body," "a ruin" (from pipto, "to fall"), in Mark 6:29 Revelation 11:8, 9.

Corpses were considered as unclean and defiling in the Old Testament, so that priests were not to touch dead bodies except those of near kinsfolk (Leviticus 21:1-3), the high priest and a Nazirite not even such (Leviticus 21:11 Numbers 6:6-8). Numbers 19 presents to us the ceremonial of purification from such defilement by the sprinkling with the ashes of a red heifer, cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet.

It was considered a great calamity and disgrace to have one's body left unburied, a "food unto all birds of the heavens, and unto the beasts of the earth" (Deuteronomy 28:26 2 Samuel 21:10 Psalm 79:2 Isaiah 34:3 Jeremiah 7:33, etc.). Thence is explained the merit of Rizpah (2 Samuel 21:10), and of the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead, who protected or recovered and buried the mutilated bodies of Saul and his sons (1 Samuel 31:11-13 2 Samuel 2:4-7; compare 1 Chronicles 10:11, 12).

See BURIAL.

Even the corpses of persons executed by hanging were not to remain on the tree "all night," "for he that is hanged is accursed of God; that thou defile not thy land which Yahweh thy God giveth thee for an inheritance" (Deuteronomy 21:23).

H. L. E. Luering

4430. ptoma -- a fall, hence a misfortune, ruin
... hence a misfortune, ruin. Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: ptoma Phonetic
Spelling: (pto'-mah) Short Definition: a carcass, corpse Definition: a ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4430.htm - 6k

3498. nekros -- dead
... dead. Part of Speech: Adjective Transliteration: nekros Phonetic Spelling:
(nek-ros') Short Definition: dead, a corpse Definition: (a) adj: dead, lifeless ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3498.htm - 7k

3499. nekroo -- to put to death
... Cognate: 3499 (from 3498 , corpse-like, lifeless") -- to view as a corpse, ie without
life; (but not "make") , ; to mortify, deprive of life or energizing power ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3499.htm - 7k

2966. kolon -- a limb (of the body)
... Noun, Neuter Transliteration: kolon Phonetic Spelling: (ko'-lon) Short Definition:
a limb, bodies Definition: a limb, member of a body; fig: a corpse, carcass. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2966.htm - 6k

345. anakeimai -- to be laid up, to recline
... lean or recline at the table. From ana and keimai; to recline (as a corpse or at
a meal) -- guest, lean, lie, sit (down, at meat), at the table. see GREEK ana. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/345.htm - 7k

167. akatharsia -- uncleanness
... Cognate: 167 (from 1 "not" and 2513 , "clean because unmixed, pure") -- ritual ,
caused by leprosy, open infection, child birth, touching a corpse, etc. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/167.htm - 7k

4676. soudarion -- a handkerchief, a head cloth (for the dead)
... Of Latin origin; a sudarium (sweat-cloth), ie Towel (for wiping the perspiration
from the face, or binding the face of a corpse) -- handkerchief, napkin. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4676.htm - 6k

4958. sustello -- to draw together, hence wrap up
... limit, shorten. From sun and stello; to send (draw) together, ie Enwrap (enshroud
a corpse for burial), contract (an interval) -- short, wind up. see GREEK sun. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4958.htm - 6k

4792. sugkomizo -- to bring together, spec. to take up (a body for ...
... sugkomizo Phonetic Spelling: (soong-kom-id'-zo) Short Definition: I bear away together
with Definition: I bear away together with, as in carrying away a corpse ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4792.htm - 6k

6297. peger -- corpse, carcass
... 6296, 6297. peger. 6298 . corpse, carcass. Transliteration: peger Phonetic
Spelling: (peh'gher) Short Definition: corpses. ... carcass, corpse, dead body. ...
/hebrew/6297.htm - 6k

5038. nebelah -- a carcass, corpse
... 5037, 5038. nebelah. 5039 . a carcass, corpse. Transliteration: nebelah
Phonetic Spelling: (neb-ay-law') Short Definition: body. ...
/hebrew/5038.htm - 6k

1480. guphah -- a body, corpse
... guphah. 1481 . a body, corpse. Transliteration: guphah Phonetic Spelling:
(goo-faw') Short Definition: bodies. ... From guwph; a corpse (as closed to sense) -- ...
/hebrew/1480.htm - 6k

1472. gviyah -- a body, corpse
... 1471, 1472. gviyah. 1472a . a body, corpse. Transliteration: gviyah Phonetic
Spelling: (ghev-ee-yaw') Short Definition: body. dead body, carcass, corpse ...
/hebrew/1472.htm - 5k

1472a. geviyyah -- a body, corpse
... 1472, 1472a. geviyyah. 1472b . a body, corpse. Transliteration: geviyyah
Short Definition: body. Word Origin from the same as gav ...
/hebrew/1472a.htm - 5k

4463. mamoth -- death
... death. From muwth; a mortal disease; concretely, a corpse -- death. see HEBREW
muwth. 4462, 4463. mamoth. 4464 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/4463.htm - 6k

5315. nephesh -- a soul, living being, life, self, person, desire ...
... passion, appetite, emotion NASB Word Usage any (1), anyone (2), anyone* (1), appetite
(7), being (1), beings (3), body (1), breath (1), corpse (2), creature (6 ...
/hebrew/5315.htm - 7k

4955. misraphah -- a burning
... burning. From saraph; combustion, ie Cremation (of a corpse), or calcination (of
lime) -- burning. see HEBREW saraph. 4954, 4955. misraphah. 4956 . ...
/hebrew/4955.htm - 6k

4191. muth -- to die
... 1), bring about my death (1), bring death (1), caused the death (1), certainly die
(1), certainly put (1), certainly put me to death (1), corpse (2), dead (104 ...
/hebrew/4191.htm - 7k

Fragment xxxv. If the Corpse of Elisha Raised a Dead Man...
... Fragment XXXV. If the corpse of Elisha raised a dead man? If the corpse
of Elisha raised a dead man, [4857] how much more shall ...
/.../fragments from the lost writings of irenaeus/fragment xxxv if the corpse.htm

Death Entirely Separates the Soul from the Body.
... in this sense that Plato, although he despatches at once to heaven such souls as
he pleases, [1789] yet in his Republic [1790] exhibits to us the corpse of an ...
/.../tertullian/a treatise on the soul/chapter li death entirely separates the.htm

Our Death.
... A body without a soul is a corpse. ... Yea, the parallel goes still further. A corpse
may be embalmed, stuffed with herbs, and encased as a mummy. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/kuyper/the work of the holy spirit/xvi our death.htm

The Life of Mr. John Welwood.
... The night after his exit his corpse was removed from John Barclay's house into a
private room, belonging to one Janet Hutton (till his friends might consult ...
/.../howie/biographia scoticana scots worthies/the life of mr john 10.htm

Whether in the Blessed, after the Resurrection, all the Senses ...
... But this opinion cannot be true; which is evident from the fact that vultures hasten
to a corpse on perceiving the odor from a very great distance, whereas it ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether in the blessed after.htm

Ephesians v. 5, 6
... It is the being turned into a corpse, the being stripped of the energy
derived from the soul. ... It is its being made a corpse also. ...
/.../homily xviii ephesians v 5.htm

Death by Disuse
... There you have naked death, death unadorned, the corpse exhibited; here,
if there is a corpse, at least it is decently dressed. ...
/.../wilson-carmichael/things as they are/chapter xiii death by disuse.htm

Chrysostom -- Excessive Grief at the Death of Friends
... Look not, therefore, on the corpse, lying with closed eyes and speechless lips,
but on the man that is risen, that has received glory unspeakable and amazing ...
/.../various/the worlds great sermons volume i/chrysostom excessive grief at.htm

How one Even of those who are Without May be Brought to Believe ...
... how would her heart be consumed as it were with a flame; how bitterly would she
prolong her lament over him, embracing the corpse as it lay before her ...
/.../gregory/gregory of nyssa dogmatic treatises etc/xxv how one even of.htm

Jesus in the Tomb.
... expired. A Jewish law[2] forbade a corpse suspended on the cross to be
left beyond the evening of the day of the execution. It is ...
//christianbookshelf.org/renan/the life of jesus/chapter xxvi jesus in the.htm

Corpse (18 Occurrences)
... 1. (n.) The dead body of a human being. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. CORPSE. ...
HLE Luering. Multi-Version Concordance Corpse (18 Occurrences). ...
/c/corpse.htm - 14k

Carcass (30 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (n.) A dead body, whether of man or beast; a
corpse; now commonly the dead body of a beast. 2. (n.) The ...
/c/carcass.htm - 18k

Carcase (38 Occurrences)
... this Hebrew word is also translated "dead body" in Numbers 14:29 1 Samuel 17:46;
Isaiah 34:3; Isaiah 66:24 Ezekiel 6:5; Ezekiel 43:7:9, and "corpse" in Nahum 3 ...
/c/carcase.htm - 21k

Sprinkling (48 Occurrences)
... In the case of persons who had contracted uncleanness through contact with a corpse,
sprinkling with the "water of separation" was part of the process of ...
/s/sprinkling.htm - 29k

Sprinkle (37 Occurrences)
... In the case of persons who had contracted uncleanness through contact with a corpse,
sprinkling with the "water of separation" was part of the process of ...
/s/sprinkle.htm - 26k

Burial (25 Occurrences)
... The corpse, dressed in such clothes as were worn in life, is stretched on a bier
with a cloth thrown over it, until carried forth for burial" (Eastern Customs ...
/b/burial.htm - 42k

Corpses (16 Occurrences)

/c/corpses.htm - 11k

Body (562 Occurrences)
... body, whether alive or dead" (1 Samuel 31:10, 12 2 Kings 8:5 the King James Version;
Daniel 10:6); me`im, "body" (Songs 5:14); guphah = "corpse" (1 Chronicles ...
/b/body.htm - 59k

Jairus (6 Occurrences)
... the chamber of death, accompanied by Peter and James and John and the father and
mother of the maiden, he went forward to the bed whereon the corpse lay, and ...
/j/jairus.htm - 10k

Lightly (31 Occurrences)
... Deuteronomy 21:23 his corpse doth not remain on the tree, for thou dost certainly
bury him in that day -- for a thing lightly esteemed of God 'is' the hanged ...
/l/lightly.htm - 16k

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